Odometer.



-v No. 726,547. 4. PATENTED APR. 28, 1903.

J. N. LEAGH.

ODOMETER.

, APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1902. N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 726,547. Y PATENTED APR. 28, 11903.

\ J. N. LBACH.

ODOMETER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 2s. 1902.

No Mo EL. f

l@ 7 ,8 2 SHBBZT SHEET z.

" Witnessesnve70f- @KM i il d@ gmw UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

JOHN N. LEACII, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR' TO NATIONAL OILHEATING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ODOIVIETR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Patent No. 726,547, dated April28, 1908.

Application filed March 25, 1902. Serial No. 99,908. (No modell-l .Toall whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN N. LEACH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOdometers, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the saidspecicaio tlOn.

My invention relates to improvements in odometers especially adapted foruse in connection with an automobile carriage or other like vehicle, andhas for its object to provide I5 a simple and efcient device formeasuringr and registering the number of miles and fractional parts of amile traveled over by the said vehicle, and one which can be easily andreadily removed from one carriage to another zo without mutilation ofthe carriage from which it is removed.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will `beapparent from the hereinafter-detailed descriptive portions of thespecilication.

The invention consists of the novel features of construction hereinafterset forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claimshereto appended.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the deviceapplied to an automobile carriage. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of theordinary steering-knuckle of an automobile carriage and of the means forop'- V 3 5 erating the registering mechanism. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the star-wheel and connecting parts, the outer portion of the supportfor the same being removed. Figft is a view of a horizontal section,taken on the line 4 l of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is ya front view of the meter.Fig. 6 is afront View of the same with the face and dial removed,showing also the support or standard. Fig. 7 is a View of a Verticalsection, taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6, the face and dial being added;`and Fig. 8 is a View of a horizontal section, taken on the line 8 8 ofFig. 7.

Like letters and numerals of reference refer to like parts throughoutthe several views.

5o The invention is shown and described as being affixed to the ordinaryautomobile carrlage provided with a thirty-inch Wheel.

d denotes the body of the carriage, supported by springs in the usualmanner.

b is the front axle, o the steering-knuckle, and CZ the wheel, all ofthe usual and ordinary construction.

1 is a metallic casting secured to the steering-knuckle c, and 2 is asupplemental me tallic casting suitably secured to the casting 6o 1,which, in conjunction with the casting 2, forms a support and bearingfor the sixpointed star-wheel 3, its'shaft 4, the worm 5, and thetoothed Wheel 6, which latter is provided with fifty-six teeth. 7 is atension- 65 spring coiled around the shaft 4 and seated between theunder side of the said star-wheel and the upper portions of the castings1 and 2.

8 is the shaft or spindle of the wheel 6, having its bearing in thescrew-threaded exten- 7o sion 9 of the casting 1 and having asquareshaped outer end. The extension 9 and the shaft 8 aresubstantially at right angles to the steer-knuckle c.

10 is a shaftingconsisting of metallic rods 75 connected at suitableintervals by the universal joints 11 11. The lower end of the saidshafting is provided with an enlarged circular portion 12, having ashoulder 13 and a rectangular recess 14, which latter is adapt- 8o l edto engage with the shaft 8in substantially the same manner that theordinary clock-key engages with the barrelarbor of a clock.

15 is a screw-threaded coupling provided with a shoulder 16 and adaptedto be screwed 85 onto` the screw-threaded extension 9 of the casting 1.rihe shoulder 16 is adapted to engage with the shoulder 13 of theshafting 10, and thereby prevents the coupling'l from falling off thesaid shafting when disengaged 9o from the shaft 8.

17 is a check-nut for limitingthe forward movement of the couplingfl.

18 is a pin or projection suitably secured by means of clamps to thespokes e e and lying substantially at right angles tothesteering-knuckle, and 19 is a portion of the said pin or projection 18extending downwardly therefrom and at substantially right anglestherewith and adapted to engage with the roo star-wheel3, as will behereinafter more fully described.

is a metallic case having on the inside and made,preferably,integraltherewith studs 2l 2l, each of which is provided with screwthreadedrecesses. 22 is a metallic plate adapted to t into the said case and tobe secured thereto by means of screws engaging with the screw-threadedrecesses in the studs 21 2l. The lower portion of the plate 22 is cutaway in the shape of a semicircle andthe central portion ofthe saidplate is provided with a rectangular opening 23, the said opening 23 andthe said cut-away portion being connected by the slot 24.

25 25 denote standards or supports, preferably made integral with theplate 22 and provided with screw-threaded recesses 26 26, with which thescrews 27 27, passing through the dial 28, are adapted to engage for thepurpose of securing the -latter to the case.

29 is a metallic tube provided at its inner end with the Iiange 30 andprojecting downwardly through the bottom of the case and secured to thelatter by means of screws passing through the case and the said ange, tothe upper part of which is riveted the stud 31, which forms a shaft forthe disk 32 and the gear-wheel 33, which is made integral with thelatter. The lower end of the tube 29 is screw-threaded. The disk 32 andthe gear-wheel 33 are prevented from slipping olf the shaft 3l by meansof the knob or head 34 on the upper end thereof. The gear-wheel 33contains sixteen teeth.

35 denotes a shaft adapted to rotate within the tube 29, provided withthe gear-wheel 36, having eight teeth, which is adapted to engage withthe gear-wheel 33. The upper end of the shaft 35 terminates in anendless screw or worm 36, which engages with the toothed wheel 37,provided with fifty teeth and rigidly secured to the shaft 38, the innerend of which has its bearing in the plate 22. The shaft 38 near itsouter end is provided with the worm 39.

40 is a shaft rotating in a bearing in the upper part of the standard4l, preferably made integral with the plate 22. One end of the shaft 40is provided with a toothed wheel 42, having twenty-four teeth andadapted to engage with the worm 39. The other end of the shaft40 isprovided with a worm 43, which is adapted to engage with the toothedwheel 44, having twenty-tive teeth, the shaft of which has its bearingin the plate 22.

46 is a disk rigidly fastened to the shaft 40 and adapted to rotatetherewith. The dial 28 is provided with the rectangular openings 47 and48, with which the disks 32 and 46 respectively register.

49 and 50 are circular depressions in the dial 28, each being providedwith a central opening. The outer end of the shaft 38 projects throughthe central opening in the circular opening in the circular depression49 and is provided with a hand 5l, and the outer end of the shaft 45projects through the central opening in the circular depression 50 andis provided witha hand 52.

53 denotes the face of the case, made, preferably, of glass and adaptedto be secured to the case by the bezel 54. Y

The disk 32 is divided into sixteen parts, each of which representsone-sixteenth of a mile, and the disk 46 is divided into twentyfourparts, each of which represents twentylive miles. The circulardepression 49 is divided into fifty parts, each of which representsone-half of a mile, and the circular depression 50 is likewise dividedinto fifty parts, each of which represents three hundred miles.

The upper part of the flexible shafting 10 is connected with the shaft35 in substantially the same manner and by substantially the same meansthat the lower end of the said shafting is connected with the shaft 8,and it will not be necessary to further describe such construction.

55 is a tubular standard or support partially cut away in front andsplitnear the upper end and provided with lugs 56 56, havingscrew-threaded openings. 57 is a tighteningscrew adapted to engage withthe said openings. The standard 55 is secured to the door of thecarriage, as indicated in Fig. l. The iexible shafting l0 passes upthrough the said iioor and through the said support,y and the coupling58, which connects the shafting l0 and the shaft 35, is clamped and heldfirmly in the upper part of said support by turning the screw 57.

It is to be noted from the construction above described that the wholedevice may easily and readily be transferred from one carriage toanother with practically no mutilation of the carriage beyond a smallhole in the iioorand that the registering mechanism may be easilyremoved from the case by simply removing the face and dial and takingout the screws which engage wi th the screwthreaded recesses in thestuds 21 2l. The plate 22, which practically supports the greater partof the registering mechanism, may then be readily lifted ont. It will befurther observed that the action of all the movable parts of the deviceis a positive action and that there is no lost motion, as will morefully hereinafter be set forth.

The mode of operation of the device in so far as it has not been alreadydisclosed is as follows: As the carriage is driven forward thestar-wheel is rotated intermittently by the striking of the pin orprojection in the spokes of the Wheel against it, one tooth at a time,the tension-spring 7 preventing the rotation of star-wheel by momentumor otherwise. Assuming that the wheel of the carriage is a thirty-inchwheel, it will take approximately six hundred and seventy-tworevolutions of the Wheel to make a mile. With a six-pointed star-wheeland a toothed wheel with titty-six teeth, as above described, the

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shaft 10 will be rotated twice during the mile, and the train of gearsin the registering mechanism will be moved so that the disk 32 willrotate once during the mile, the toothed wheel 37 once during everytwenty-live miles, the disk 46 once during every six hundred miles, andthe toothed wheel 44 once during every fifteen thousand miles, the disk32 indicating every one-sixteenth of a mile traveled, the hand 51indicating each one-half mile traveled up to twenty-five miles, the disk46 indicating every twenty-iive miles traveled up to six hundred miles,and the hand 52 indieating every three hundred miles traveled up tofifteen thousand miles.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination witharegisteringmechanism of a driving mechanismcomprising a casing provided with a bearing therein for a Worm andstar-wheel mechanism, means whereby it may be secured to thesteeringknuckle of a vehicle-axle and a hollow stem adjacent to andprojected at right angles to said bearing and the trunnions of saidknuckle, a gear journaled in said casing, the shaft of which extendsthrough and beyond said stem, a worm and star-wheel mechanism actuatingsaid gear and a flexible connection between said gear-shaft and saidregistering mechanism.

2. The combination with a registering mechanism of a driving mechanismcomprising a casing provided with a bearing therein for a worm andstar-wheel mechanism, means whereby it may be secured to thesteeringknuckle of a vehicle-axle and a hollow stem adjacent to andprojected at right angles to said bearing and the trunnions of saidknuckle, a gear journaled in said casing, the shaft of which extendsthrough and beyond said stem, a worm and star-wheel-mechanism actuatingsaid gear, a iiexible connection between said gear-shaft and saidregistering mechanism and a swivel connection between said flexibleconnection and said stem whereby said parts are maintained in position.

3. The combination with a registering mechanism of a driving mechanismcomprising a casing provided with a bearing therein for a worm and star-wheel mechanism, means whereby it may be secured to the steeringknuckleof a vehicle-axle and a hollow stem plurality of rods united byuniversal joints,

the last of said joints being adjacent to the steering-knuckle wherebythe relative position of said connection with said registering and saiddriving mechanisms and said knuckle is maintained in turning.

4. The combination with a registering mechanism of a driving mechanismcomprising a casing provided with a bearing therein for a worm and starwheel mechanism, means whereby it may be secured to the steeringknuckleof a vehicle-axle and a hollow stem adjacent to and projected at rightangles to said bearing and the trunnions of said knuckle, a gearjournaled in said casing, the shaft of which extends through and beyondsaid stem, means for actuating said gear, a flexible connection betweensaid registering mechanism and said gear-shaft comprising a plurality ofrods united by universal joints, the last of said joints being adjacentto the steering-knuckle whereby the relative position of said connectionwith said registering and said driving mechanisms and said knuckle ismaintained in turning, and a swivel connection between said flexibleconnection and said projection whereby said parts are maintained inposition.

5. The combination with a registering mechanism of a driving mechanismattached to and movable with the steering-knuckle of a vehicle-axle anda flexible connection between said registering and said drivingmechanism comprising a plurality of rods united by universal joints, thelast of said joints being adjacent to said steering-knuckle whereby therelative position of said connection with said registering and saiddriving mechanism and said knuckle is maintained in turning.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 14th day of March,A. D. 1902, in the presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN N. LEACH.

Witnesses:

N. L. FROTHINGHAM, A. A. AsHMAN.

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